DEAR STEPHEN KING

Dear Stephen King,

First and foremost, I'd like to say how very much I enjoyed your new book, FINDERS KEEPERS.  In this latest thriller, Bellamy is the perfect creepy fan of  John Rothstein, while Pete Saubers is portrayed as a nicely obsessive one.  Black and white hats and who will win?   Certainly not Rothstein.

What can I say about your books overall that you haven't already heard, except that I've loved almost all of them.  You were the first (and only) author I ever wrote to and that was way back in the early '80s;  just to compliment you and ask you to write faster.  I never heard back from you but I didn't expect to.   I love books and I love reading and your books are always at the top of my list.

Sometimes an author writes something that just zings to my heart and forces me to share the thought with friends.  FINDERS KEEPERS had that special paragraph that felt like it was written just for me.  To wit, "

"For readers, one of life's most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers--not just capable of doing it, but in love with it.  Hopelessly.  Head over heels.  The first book that does that is never forgotten, and each page seems to bring a fresh revelation, one that burns and exalts:  Yes!  That's how it is!  Yes!  I saw that, too!  And, of course, That's what I think!  That's what I FEEL!"  

ZING!  And I immediately knew what the book was that made me fall in love!  GOOFY MRS. GOOSE by Miriam Clark Potter.  It's also the reason I make yearly donations to the Newark Public Library.

My family never had any money, so there weren't going to be any summer camps or outings in our future.  On the first day of summer vacation from school, my brother and I took a friend's little red wagon to the branch library on Bergen Street in Newark, New Jersey.  I was about seven years' old and Bob was probably nine.  The very kind librarian told us we could each take ten books for the summer.  HA!  What did she know??!!  One of the books I borrowed was GOOFY MRS. GOOSE.  That was it!  I was hooked!  These weren't nicely colored Golden Books.  These were black and white with illustrations by the author, with more words than drawings, but Ms. Potter unlocked a whole new life for me!  One that used my imagination!  I raced through all ten books in a week, as did my brother, and off we headed to return our allotment and borrow more.

The librarian was fairly shocked that we returned so quickly, but I just had to get more of Mrs. Goose and her friends.  Three-Ducks, Mrs. Squirrel, Black Cat and Old Lady Owl, just to name a few.  Oh my, I felt like I had just discovered my new family!  A beautiful family who always helped Goofy Mrs. Goose out of her latest quandary with kindness and humor.  I could escape my own family's poverty, arguments and unhappiness and spend my time in Animaltown that summer.  And so, I was hooked on Mrs. Goose, but even more hooked on reading, and I have spent the better part of the last sixty years doing just that!

I'm now the proud owner of ten of the MRS. GOOSE series written by Ms. Potter.  They're in fair to miserable condition being library castoffs for the most part. But to me they are my prized possessions!

So, thank you, Mr. King, for reaching my heart and reminding me why I started this blog in the first place.  It's been my great pleasure to spend time with your books over the years.

Very truly yours, A Constant Reader

ISBN:  978-1501100079  
Pub. Date - June 2, 2015
448 pages
Hardcover and eBook